A sip to quench the thirst

State offers 5 percent instead of zero

FILE -- In this Feb. 4, 2014 file photo a warning buoy sits on the dry, cracked bed of Lake Mendocino near Ukiah, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown was governor the last time California had a drought of epic proportions, in 1975-76 and now is pushing a controversial $25 billion plan to build twin tunnels to ship water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmland and cities further south. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)
The Associated Press

FILE -- In this Feb. 4, 2014 file photo a warning buoy sits on the dry, cracked bed of Lake Mendocino near Ukiah, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown was governor the last time California had a drought of epic proportions, in 1975-76 and now is pushing a controversial $25 billion plan to build twin tunnels to ship water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmland and cities further south. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)

SACRAMENTO  Some thirsty California cities and farms will receive a sip of water — not nearly enough to solve drought-induced woes but better than the nothing folks had been expecting.

The state Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation jointly announced Friday they would turn the taps on slightly for some key customers, including the Metropolitan Water District that supplies much of the San Diego region.

“An increase in supplies from the State Water Project is always welcome news and we are thankful for the late-winter storms that made (the) increase possible,” said Dana Friehauf, a water resources manager for the San Diego County Water Authority. “However, California is still in an extreme drought… It’s important for residents and businesses to voluntarily increase their conservation efforts in case dry conditions continue into next year. We all need to do our part to stretch the resources that we have.”

Some farms served by the two federal and state delivery projects will also receive more, but it’s unlikely to be enough to prevent thousands of acres of land from being left idle and head off anticipated higher produce prices.

The state said it will send 5 percent, compared to the zero percent earlier. That amounts to about 200,000 acre feet — enough to meet the needs of about 400,000 average households for a year. Metropolitan would receive nearly half of it and the county water authority an undetermined small slice of that.

That “is considerable in this extremely dry year,” said Mark Cowin, director of the state Department of Water Resources. “It’s a bit of good news in an otherwise bleak water year.”

The federal Bureau of Reclamation will increase its deliveries to farmers north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to 75 percent of normal compared to 40 percent. Those farms have legal rights to a certain amount of water. But the giant Westlands Water District headquartered in Fresno is not receiving any water for its farmers. Westlands is a contractor with no legal entitlement to supplies when there are shortages. A final allocation decision is expected within the next 10 days.

But the extra state water could benefit Westlands and other water-short regions. Those supplies will be stored in San Luis Reservoir near Los Banos. Those that have a right to the water could transfer it to others in more dire straits.

More than cities and farms will be pinched. Water vital for the environment, such as refuges for migratory waterfowl and in-stream flows for fish, will be in short supply as well, although the bureau did increase flows to some wildlife regions in far Northern California.

Neither agency is holding out hope that more water will be available later this spring.

“I am not particularly optimistic,” said Ken Milligan, a federal water manager in the Central Valley.

Cowin said he would be “very surprised” if there are later increases.

The meager rations were bumped up thanks to some spring snowstorms.

Until then, the state and federal officials were warning cities and farms without a historic legal first call on supplies not to expect any deliveries this year. Those included Metropolitan, which sells water to the San Diego County Water Authority for distribution in the region. The county water authority counts on Metropolitan’s state supply for about a quarter of its annual needs.

Despite the growing crisis, rationing is not expected in most of Southern California, thanks to a steady stream from the Colorado River and sufficient local reserves. But agencies have mounted aggressive campaigns to convince users to turn off sprinklers and take shorter showers, among other actions.

Jeff Kightlinger, Metropolitan’s general manager, also pleaded for more conservation heading into the hot, dry summer months.

“Today’s announcement does not materially change the historic nature of this drought,” he said.

The numbers tell a dismal tale. Snowpack is at about a quarter of normal and most reservoirs are far lower than their usual levels at this time of the year.